Well, I just fought the White Mage and the Monk today in Chapter 5 and they seem to have some memories of previous defeat, also noting that I also brought some reinforcements.---Good morning! My name is Jagayama and I spin for a living.

In Chapter 5, go ahead and ignore them. In Chapter 6, a new sidequest becomes available, and a couple fights are actually different. After that, Chapter 7 has great steals and changed up fights. And Chapter 8 is where things get really challenging on the sidequest front.---Favorite RPG's: FF XII, Xenoblade Chronicles, Bravely Default, Tales of the Abyss"Whatever I say is clothes becomes clothes!" - Sage Yulyana

Like the previous poster said, skip ch 5's sidequests, do the new sidequest in ch 6, and I would most definitely recommend you to do the sidequests in ch 7 and ch 8. That's when they get really fun---3DS Friend Code: 0920-0790-4765

Is the dialogue from the sidequests identical? I know the bosses are the same, some with better steals and variations, but if I want to squeeze every ounce of story out of the game, do I need to play Ch. 5's sidequests?

For example, I beat Holly and the monk and got some dialogue about them questioning Edea's betrayal.

Is this the same exact dialogue I'll get from beating them in Chapter 5?---Proud follower of Christ!3DS: Name: SwuglyBear, FC: 5429-7287-4928

They are most certainly not identical, as they all have their own twists. For example:

In Chapter 5, when battling Holly Whyte and Barras Lehr, they mention being beaten by two people, who came back to fight them again, like how it originally was, and you bringing reinforcements. They also question Edea's betrayal, much like you said.In Chapter 6, when battling Holly Whyte and Barras Lehr, they mention being beaten by only one person, who is not part of the current group. After defeating them, Holly Whyte casted Reraise on both of them, keeping them alive. A lovey-dovey scene soon follows, and you get a Party Chat about it, too.---3DS Friend Code: 5455-9388-5344 - Friend Safari Psychic: Munna, Espurr, Xatu